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Sep 28, 2014    |      Comments Off on Having Done in Room 1501 Week-8 (1st bad day)

Having Done in Room 1501 Week-8 (1st bad day)

JCS Crest 2014Room 1501 pic

 

 

Week 8?  No way, that’s crazy.  I can’t believe how fast it has gone by.  Are you humming, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” yet?   I’m not sure whether or not I’m going to decorate Room 1501 in Christmas Decor or not.  My gut says that I’m not going to decorate…don’t call me a grinch….if that bothers you…then come on in to Room 1501 and decorate it!  🙂  

8 weeks in and it is clear that Room 1501 students are getting comfortable with me as their Bible teacher.  This is good and not so good. This is the first week I’ve gotten frustrated with one of the classes in room 1501.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to get control of the class to the point where they were all listening and engaged. They were talking over me, and simply not engaging in what I was trying to teach.  I don’t fully blame the students.  I’m learning that classroom order is multi-faceted.  

I have to acknowledge as a teacher, that it is not just the students job to keep the classroom in order. Is it not true, in any situation where order is needed, that all parties are responsible to maintain order?  The person up front must be teaching in an engaging way…AND…the listeners must accept responsibility to practice the discipline of sitting still and engaging in the material being taught.   On this specific day, I was revisiting some material we had already gone over, and it was clear the students were tired of the subject.  I kept trying to capture their attention.  First, I simply asked the few who were talking to please “listen up.”  Secondly, I raised my voice tones a little more to try and make it obvious that I was trying to get them to listen.  Third, I added a little drama to my teaching by pacing and walking around the classroom….all to no avail!  

Room 1501 classes are only 40 minutes long.  In my many failed attempts to get the class to tune in…I actually used 30 minutes.  I’m pretty sure nothing was learned, but it was 30 minutes of pure effort on my part.  So…with only about 10 minutes left I told the class how frustrated I was.  I told them that when I was a student, the teacher would throw chalk and erasers at us when we behaved like this.  I told them I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw dry erase markers and erasers at them…but since I couldn’t do that…I told them all to get out of my class.  I told them that if I got in trouble for kicking them all out of room 1501 with 7 minutes of class left…that they were all busted too!

As the class nervously and quickly exited the room, many of the students walked by me with heads down, saying, “Sorry Mr. Renner.”  It made for a long night for me.  I went over and over in my head what I could have done differently, and this one silly incident caused me to wonder if I’m any good at teaching.

As I type this, I now find it somewhat humorous that I can have 7 weeks of great teaching with great student response, and then only one bad class nearly causes me to believe I’m bad at teaching.  LOL.  I’m becoming more dramatic as I age.  I’m going to assume that most of you have experienced something similar.  We all have great gifts that God has blessed us with and we can have so many great responses…but ONE BAD RESPONSE nearly does us in!  Please tell me I’m not the only one this happens to??

Fast forward 24 hours…and nobody got in trouble, and everybody came in the next class day with a great attitude…even me.

As I shared the experience with a few teachers, they simply rolled their eyes at me and said…”Please…Welcome to teaching!”  Not all days are a good day.  I suppose I should just say, “duh.”  I know this, but for some reason that day really got at me.

There was good that came from it all…that specific class of students in Room 1501 were amazing the rest of the week.  I especially smiled, when the worst culprits from that bad day…were now the ones who asked the class to quiet down when it started getting rowdy.

I guess the moral of the story is this.  It takes all parties cooperating for peace to exist and thrive.

I suppose, if I’m really admitting to my own past behavior as a student, I deserve to have some days where the students in Room 1501 cause me some gray hairs.  That is exactly what kind of student I was… too often.   Some people call it Karma.  I call it, God’s sense of humor!”

I suppose it would do me well, right now,  to remember what I have preached so many times.  “Our battles are not flesh and blood.”  To quote the exact Bible passage…

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” –Ephesians 6:12

You and I are going to have a few bad classes.  Bad days.  Bad jobs. Bad relationships days.  Those days are not the norm.  Those moments do not define who we are.  They are just life. The Bible challenges us to focus on the good.  Even after watching some 10 O’clock news channel, I still believe that there is way more good in this world than there is bad.  The bad just hurts more and thus feels more real and prevalent.  The 10 O’clock news usually only focuses on the bad, and that tends to be all that we see, causing us to think the world has gone to hell in a hand basket.

It has not.  You are good.  I am good.  God is great.  You and I will become what we are focused on.  I think it is fitting to quote the Bible verse that is resonating in my head right now about this topic.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. — Philippians 4:6-8.

There are so many things happening in Room 1501 that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable!  I know the same it is true for you and your workplace, your home, and your life!  Don’t give the bad so much credit.  It doesn’t deserve that much attention.

Tomorrow is a good day.  When you get up in the morning, get on your knees for just a moment and give God thanks for what you are about to encounter.  Invite Him into every decision that you are about to make, every meeting you are about to attend, and every action you have yet to do…Then the God of peace will be with you.

That will be a good day…no matter what happens.

Here comes Monday!

 

 

Sep 6, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

The Spirit of Discovery…

I am nearly breathless after trying to describe Innovation in my previous post. I want to now take a look into the spirit of discovery. So, keeping it old School…Webster says that Discovery is, “The act of finding or learning something FOR THE FIRST TIME!

Wow…my heart beats faster, just after reading that definition. You’ve read the headlines…“Her research led to a number of important discoveries. Reporters discovered that the Governor had been unfaithful to his wife. Discovered a talented musician. Voyage of discovery. It was one of the most important discoveries in the history of _____________!”

Discovery! Think of Lewis and Clark and their expedition of discovery. It required teamwork. It required admitting that they had no clue what they were going to really encounter. Discovery has a knack of showing all involved that they are not in control. Discovery forces all involved to admit this phrase; “I don’t know!” Therefore, discovery creates humility.

Here’s what is exciting to me about the key difference between innovation and discovery. I wrote earlier that Innovation breeds arrogance…meaning you have to have some arrogance to breed more arrogance. What’s thrilling about discovery is that it creates humility. Somebody can have total arrogance and they can be put in the environment of “discovery” and they will be forced to be humble. Humility is born in the middle of uncertainty and danger. Opening yourself or your organization to uncertainty and danger creates humility. Innovators have to do what they’re told and use a previous example to do it. Innovation companies rely heavily on their policy manuals. Policy and policing go hand in hand and are abundant in innovator type companies. Please don’t misunderstand me, there is a deep need for policy. The attitude behind the policy is where innovative companies are different from companies of discovery. It’s the difference between arrogance and humility. Discoverers have to rely on and trust each other. Which team would you rather work on? Don’t forget that Innovation and Discovery are both good. I just personally am bent towards discovery and that is the bias you are reading in this article. An example is from the book of “Good to Great” written by author Jim Collins. In his book Collins differentiates between Levels 1,2,3,4, and 5 leaders. Jim collins talks about how level 4 leaders and level 5 leaders can produce very similar results, but a key difference between a level 4 leader and a level 5 leader is humility or lack there of. Level 5 leaders always lead through humility. Level 5 leaders tend to lead companies with the reputation for being Discovery oriented. Now a side note for those looking for some loop holes here. There are many companies known for being a company of discovery and their leaders seem to be arrogant. Maybe a fair example would be Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. Steve Jobs has been accused of being arrogant. However I think there are some fine differences between arrogance, confidence or ego. Many times all of those traits are just written off as arrogant.

A good example of creating humility through discovery would be taking a controlling “type A” person that struggles with arrogance and put him in the front of the raft as you White Water Raft down some serious rapids. This control type person and his arrogance washes away (in this case maybe literally washes away) into humility as everybody else in the raft hears him scream like a girl child who saw a mouse run across the room. HUMILITY SERVED!

That is what I love about discovery. It is teachable.

Discovery is the mentality that focuses only on the cause…even invests fully in the cause regardless of the effect or the end result. I said earlier that I am a pastor. So if I study the life of Jesus I can see that He was a man who even knew the end result or the effect of His life. He was going to be badly beaten, and murdered. Yet he stayed with the cause. By cause, I mean the foundation, the reason, the why, the origin instead of focusing on trying to control the end result, the effect, the outcome. In the people business, like ministry, the outcome/result/effect is God’s job, not mine. My job is to focus on the cause regardless of the effect or result. In the Lewis and Clark discovery expeditions they couldn’t control any effects or results. Every step could have been their end. They had to simply live in the moment and keep discovering what was new around every corner, and river and crevice and tree. The end result for them took care of itself…they desperately needed to stay faithful to the cause and let the effect be just that…the result of their faithfulness and determination to humbly keep in discovery mode.

Innovation focuses on the outcome and effects…the end result. Discovery focuses on the cause…the behavior, while on the journey, no matter the end result. Innovation measures results. Discovery measures faithfulness to the cause. One is motivated by control and one is motivated by love for the cause. One is living for the future and one is living in the moment and letting the future be in the hands of God. It’s a scary thing to leave the results in the hands of God. I think leaving things in the hands of God is the safest risk you could ever take. In the Big Picture of life…the most important things are not at the end of the Journey, its what develops and shapes along the journey that makes champions…and…usually creates the kind of champions that ultimately produced greater results than the innovator. If a climber of Mount Everest only focuses on the end result of attaining the top of the mountain…then what happens once that result is achieved. (Many Everest Climbers have witnessed people who only focused on the end result…and forgot to focus on their next step, resulting in a fall to their death.) Also, once the climbers of Mt. Everest achieve the end result of getting to the top of the Mountain, those who were too focused on the result, many struggle with depression soon after. The Journey…the cause…that’s where great things happen. The end result…tends to be the end.

Discovery is all about the mentality of facilitating the purpose and progress of others. Discovery is fun along the way because of the thrilling unknown yet to be discovered, but it is not about you. It has to be about others. Discovery mixed with selfishness kills people. Discovery, in its purest form, is about team and trust, and reliance on the critical factor that everybody on the team has each other’s interests above their own interests, as they cut a path towards a new discovery.

Discovery admits that the questions never change…but the answers do. So a person of discovery never has the answers for tomorrow and only has his/her own same questions to keep asking.
Jesus taught that people shouldn’t worry about tomorrow, for today has enough problems of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

People with the Spirit of Discovery keep on asking…“How should I treat this person right here right now?” How should I behave as I proceed into this business meeting?” “How can I focus my attitude to deal with this next situation that will impact my company for good?” “In this current conflict, how can I respond to this person to show that I do care about them, even if our conflict results in separation?” “Should I raise my voice and demand accountability for bad behavior with this team I’m about to confront?”
Discovery lives for the cause regardless of the effects/results.

Discovery is focusing on the cause and not the effect…the journey, not the results. It is focusing on the attitude not the end result. Innovation forces an outcome and controls and measures over and over and over. Discovery trusts and cares in the moment and leaves the outcome up to God. Discovery measures, but it measures very different things when compared to an innovator. Sound like a bad business idea? Sound like a plan for the can? If you answered yes to those two questions, you just began to die and your business too. This is the future business model. This is the business model of those that are speeding past you in the success lane of your business as you still are driving in the drive lane of yesterday.

Hopefully you are thinking right now, “I want to be a leader of Discovery!”

The attitude of discovery has no silos. There is a removal of walls that separate people. Innovation creates hierarchies and power pyramids and is led by bosses that control and measure according to a predetermined end result they will strive to achieve at all costs. Bosses and leaders are very different. (Another blog- another time.) Discovery creates circles full of people that honor and trust each other’s strengths. This silo-less circle of discovery team, has a leader without a Boss mentality. Oh, don’t mistake me, the buck must stop somewhere, but the buck stops with the one who is the true leader. A true leader is one who naturally facilitates the purpose and progress of all the others in the circle.

There is no “Boss” in the circle of discovery. Why? Because when you are out discovering and the “boss” finds himself in Quick Sand and about to die, his boss mode just dissipated. He is now the beggar, and now that he is helpless and about to die…depending on how he treated his “underlings,” he might just be left to die and it all be covered up as a tragic accident! I don’t want to be a boss who has everybody kissing my “Assets” out of fear. I want to be a leader who discovers with my team while keeping other people’s best interests ahead of my own. That’s discovery. That’s a level 5 leader.

The spirit of discovery isn’t focused on the organization; its focus is on the environment within the organization. The organization is an end result of a cause that people live for. The end result/organization eventually dies if the end results are all you are pursuing. If the team keeps focus on the cause, and the organization’s environment, then the organization as an end result just grows. Focus on the cause not the effect! Focus on the cause with great purpose and the end result just happens. An end result that happens out of fear, control and force, is not an end result that gets celebrated, except for a bonus check at the end of the year. Who isn’t motivated by a bonus check? The entire next generation of leaders…that’s who.

A discovery type leader rarely, if ever, looks into its own field type for how to do it better. Innovative leaders are so narrowly focused that it rarely, if ever, discovers. However…a company that carries the spirit of discovery can also innovate because it was founded off of discovery. The instant the company of discovery quits the spirit of discovery; its success will die with its last innovation. This company knows its true competition is something out there yet to be discovered and its worst competition is purely itself. I love the slogan on Michael Jordan’s web page. “The only man who could stop Michael Jordan….Is Michael Jordan!” That is true of your company, your church, your family and your self. When a company of discovery finally feels like it has arrived and has the best idea, it has now transformed into a company of innovation and has signed its own eventual death certificate.

Think about it. A company, or in my pastoral sense, a church that begins to decline and fail has only itself to blame. In the church world, the phrase “sheep stealing” is used frequently when people leave one church to attend a different church. If you think about it, well fed sheep don’t stray and most definitely are hard to steal. If your business or your church is losing sheep, then something’s wrong with the quality of your grass. Great churches and great businesses grow great grass and hungry sheep always want to eat.

The company of discovery is full of observation towers instead of silos. It studies and learns (discovery) from its own customer but is full of interaction and actually getting in the life of others outside its own company. A company of discovery never polls its own, only interacts. You can’t poll something that is yet to be discovered and so the company of discovery is full of trial and error. It has a culture of discovery and grace. How many times did Abe Lincoln fail? How many times did Albert Einstein fail? With unknowns around every corner, discovery keeps you and the team humble. It has a great sense of humor and often laughs at itself. It has a mentality of meshing and sharing with others. It has a trust in every individual in the company to utilize and expand on their own personal expertise and strengths. Team and Trust are a must in Discovery Companies. The company of discovery has an attitude of servant-hood and adventure and considers others better than self. There is a fine line here. Its complex. Discovery companies can innovate because they didn’t have arrogance to breed from. Innovative companies rarely discover because they started with an attitude of arrogance. Please understand. I didn’t say one way one is right and one is wrong. It is obvious that I have a bias towards the discovery company and actually carry a bit of displeasure towards companies of innovation. That’s my problem, that I will have to deal with. My simple question is…which company do you want be a part of? Here’s what is awesome about companies of discovery. They never end. They continue to discover and adapt and evolve into the future. The only thing that ends is your ability to work in that company because your age just prevents you from it. Companies of innovation sooner or later celebrate among themselves how they achieved their final result…they nailed their ultimate goal! Hip Hip Hooray….Hip Hip Hooray. Then what? These are the companies people talk about when they think back at what used to be amazing. They usually last one life time. Again…not bad, not wrong. Just not where I personally want to leave a mark on history.

So which one of these two is the company you work in or lead?

Innovative? Then you have good news…you can develop your spirit of discovery and be remarkable. Its time to get your team together and go where no man has gone before. Its scary! It creates humility. Are you up to it?

Discovery? Then stand guard, for it is very easy to start coasting…which can only happen on a downward slope. The instant you think you have arrived, you have now transformed into innovation, but that is okay, because you can make up your mind to go discover some more!

I hope you will discover who you are.
I hope you will discover what could change the world and make it better.
I hope you will discover the freedom of working humbly with a team.
I hope you will discover that the greatest joy in life is helping others achieve their dreams and desires.
When you discover that, you will be living your own dream.
The journey will be unbelievable.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and push backs. I by no means am an expert in this. I am simply thinking out loud. I like to think it all makes sense, but I’m sure there are gaps. I’m still discovering what really works for me and its an adventure that is quite thrilling and very humbling.

Go Discover!

Sep 5, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Are you a person of INNOVATION or a person of DISCOVERY?

I have been in multiple meetings and asked questions about people’s perceptions of me and our organization. I have had many discussions in the past year of my life about perceptions. People’s perceptions are people’s reality, and people’s reality tends to be their truth. People’s first impression of you might be false, but it will be their perception of you. How people perceive you is more crucial than you might like to admit. How do people perceive you? I want to compare two popular leadership styles influencing how people perceive us: The spirit of innovation and the spirit of discovery. 

Please understand that innovation and discovery are strengths; each is important and good. I am confident that the spirit of discovery creates more success than the spirit of innovation. 

One is not born with either of these styles of leadership influence; they are a choice. Which type best describes you? 

The Spirit of Innovation

Webster says innovation is “to make changes or do something in a new way.” I define innovation: As taking something old and making it useable in a new way. Innovation is reformation; innovation is often the act of taking something that worked over there, tweaking it, and using it over here. Innovation is doing something old differently. 

On the surface level, the spirit of innovation sounds fantastic. I’m not opposed to the product that innovation creates; I’m apprehensive about what the spirit of innovation does to the innovators. 

When a group of people innovates something, they become very loyal to the innovation. Why? Because they innovated it, and it is theirs. 

When an innovator innovates, they take something old and reform it into something new. Once innovation occurs, the innovator naturally thinks their innovation is exceptional and loves it. 

When the innovating group believes they have created exceptionality, it is nearly impossible for them to innovate again. Why? Because innovation is making something work better. For an innovator to re-innovate is to admit that whatever they first innovated is now lacking. No innovator ever wants to admit that their innovation is no longer working or needs to be improved. 

Another problem with innovation is that anything innovative is not new but has a façade of new. Grocery Store shelves contain products with bright new advertising: “new and improved.” However, it is the same product with a newly designed label.

Innovators approach products and ideas with an attitude of “needs improvement.” Great leaders can see what’s not working and envision what is necessary to make it work. I’m calling into question the disposition of the innovator. An attitude of “that needs improvement” is usually preceded by an attitude of “I can do it better.” Having an “I can do it better” attitude and being humble is tough.

An innovator naturally believes they can improve a product and only achieves such by first criticizing it. Critics are rarely respected and sought out for advice because innovators breed arrogance. Innovation does not lead to arrogance; it breeds arrogance. To breed arrogance, one must have the arrogance to start with. 

The Wall Street Journal recently came up with a list of 5 common mistakes of Innovators. I will give a brief description of the errors, and if you want to read the full article, you can go to: “http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog” http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog 

I added a sixth to the mix of the five common errors of innovators.

1. You believe your numbers. You insist on “seeing the numbers” too soon, and you only have to base your numbers on your past statistics. Remember that innovation is not creating something new it is taking something old and making something you think is better, and numbers usually drive this reality. Driven by numbers creates a leadership mindset that RESULTS matter most. Using a biblical worldview to demonstrate my point, people of the Bible who focused on controlling their results always caused significant damage to relationships and hurt the numerical results.

2. The Success Trap. When a company gets financial success because it got very good at what it does, it focuses on what made it successful. This focus on “what got us here” causes a crowding out of other options and points of view, and it is only a matter of time before the company gets stuck in its inability to innovate itself, causing success to fatigue. Large companies are most susceptible to success fatigue, and their death is frustratingly slow and agonizing. In the book “In Search of Excellence,” by Peters and Waterman, the authors tell the fate of 43 companies recently leading the world that got caught in this trap. Today only 5 of those 43 companies even exist.

3. Believe they know the competition. The innovative company makes a substantial mistaken identity gaff when identifying the competition. Ask the innovative company’s CEO, “Who is your competition?” They will usually reply with the company that is most like them. The problem is that history proves that our most significant competitors typically come from a different angle. i.e., Shipping companies suffered from the steam engine; the internet threatened newspapers, and watch companies suffered because of mobile phone displays. In my opinion, Innovative companies get so caught up in the love of themselves that their greatest enemy is themselves.

4. Believe that because everybody has always done it this way, it is the best way of doing the next “new” thing. Innovative companies think they are on to something “new,” but they are only reforming the old, which is a significant detriment when entering uncharted territory. I have been in the leadership of a large innovative church. This church has such large numbers that for them to go to new levels means they have no organizations to innovate. They will never achieve the next level unless they eliminate their innovative spirit. For instance, when America landed on the moon. Innovation built the rocket, the space suits, space food, etc. But innovation is not what Neil Armstrong could build off of when he put his hand on the door hatch, opened the door to outer space, and took his first step onto the moon’s surface. The spirit of discovery was required for Neil Armstrong to achieve something that had never been done before. You cannot innovate to enter the uncharted successfully. When your company is leading the way, and you choose to move forward through innovation, you just signed a contract that says you are guaranteed to no longer be in the first position and possibly just inked your death certificate. Suppose an innovative company has earned first place. In that case, it must transition to a Discovery mentality to enter uncharted territory.

5. Asking the customers for their opinions. An innovative company is good at answering customers’ questions while ignoring new prospects’ desires. The organization’s current customers have already bought into the company and do not need to be asked about their loyalty. The mistakes breed when the company’s leadership team, which has innovated its methods from an old idea, is now sitting around the table making decisions based on past success. The company makes decisions based on keeping their customers happy while new and unreached people need to be “Discovered!” 

The spirit of innovation’s downfall is the team’s inability to innovate anymore because they would have to admit that their innovative idea “used” to be a good idea but is obsolete now. An innovative company never wants to acknowledge that its product no longer works. “Pride comes before the fall.” 

Innovators work hard to appear correct, regardless of the actual results. It is fascinating to me that innovators love upward results. Still, when the results prove a downward trajectory, the innovator’s arrogance cannot admit that their innovation is no longer performing. “Every bad idea used to be a good idea!” Innovation always leads to an eventual dead end.

6. Stop taking ultimate risks. Large innovative companies tend only to take calculated risks based on past success. There is a difference between discovery risk and innovative risk. 

Innovative Leaders are calculated risk-takers. The problem is that if you are the leading innovative company, which means nobody is ahead of you, you can’t calculate using your innovative spirit because there is nobody to innovate from in front of you. One can only discover from this point forward, and the risk required for an innovative company to shift into the spirit of discovery is terrifying. 

Companies in the lead usually end up not being in the lead anymore because the leader ran out of ideas to innovate. The top dog company begins to focus on how much there is to lose, settle in on their success, and “play it safe.” It’s like a Pro football game. The game is close, and the winning team has the ball at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The offensive coordinator tries to protect the lead and thus changes the game plan from ‘playing to win’ to ‘playing not to lose.’ What usually happens when that game plan is employed? It’s called an upset. 

What’s the solution? The leading company can only open themselves up to new learning experiences that make them feel uncertain and incompetent. Because there is nothing to innovate on, the leader must become like Neil Armstrong and begin to discover new! As my next post will describe, I call it the mentality of DISCOVERY.

Jan 25, 2012    |      Comments Off on Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #7”

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #7”

Pray that you will not give in to temptation. –JC
Luke 22:40(NLT)

What do you do to prepare yourself so you won’t give in to temptation when it presents itself? Jesus says you should pray. Have you tried this? Let’s play this out in our heads. You get up in the morning and you get on your knees and you clasp your hands together in the way people who pray do and you close your eyes… You say, “Dear God, help me today to not give in to temptation…In Jesus name…Amen.” You get up off your knees and you are prepared to fight temptation all day long. Porn, Violence, Greed, Selfish Ambition, Gluttony, pride, gossip, etc.

It won’t work will it? Why? My opinion is that we have the concept of prayer all messed up. In our western culture we have sub-consciencely made convenient what Prayer is.

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17… “Pray continually.” Some translations say, “Pray without ceasing.”

How is this possible!? If prayer is something you clasp your hands and close your eyes to do in the morning…then you CANNOT do it without ceasing or continually! You would kill somebody while driving. You would drown while swimming because your hands would be together. You would trip over the curb on your way to the grocery store. You would be considered rude greeting someone because you couldn’t shake hands. All because you were “praying” without ceasing. Ridiculous…I know. Since I’m being cynical, I want to put a few other things that drives me crazy about what people think Prayer is. NOTICE…I said things that drive me crazy. I didn’t say they were wrong. So if I offend you, please lighten up and relax and try to chuckle because you know I’m right. LOL
Why is it that in Church services we have to start playing some soft music in the background when the preacher starts praying? Prayer is conversation right? (Can you imagine having a conversation with your kids teacher, but before you started to talk, a musician positions himself behind you and begins to strum his guitar or play his piano as you “converse” with the teacher?) Another thing that drives me crazy about people who pray. I could have a conversation with somebody all day long and they never use big demonstrative words in their chat with me. But then we close the day with prayer and they begin to use words that I need to get a dictionary to define. Another one is when, throughout the prayer, they continually use the word “Father/God” over and over interspersed through the “conversation.” Can you imagine the conversation with your own dad on the phone and you used his title over and over. “Hey dad…how are you dad…Father Dad…I so appreciate you dad. You are the greatest dad….and dad, thanks for the gift you gave me dad.” Maddening isn’t’ it? How about one more and then I’ll knock off the attitude. It drives me crazy when a preacher prays and they preach a mini sermon in the “prayer.” I mean come on…prayer is supposed to be talking to God, right? God knows everything about himself and He is the one who wrote the Scriptures, so why does a person praying “remind” God about who He is and what He wrote in the Scriptures. It would be like you talking to your Mailman (I know that title is not PC) and saying to him/her, “Hey Mailman…you are the great mailman, you open the mailboxes with such eloquence and you place the mail in the box with such expertise that I am so inspired. I want to have your skills mailman. And Mailman, your policy states that you must deliver the mail and not open any of it as the mailman, Oh great mailman. You are to drive carefully when you go from Mailbox to Mailbox. Thank you for being a great mailman, in the United States Post Office Name I pray…Amen.” Did I go overboard on that?

So…what is prayer…that when you do it…it helps you NOT give in to temptation?

Prayer is focus. Prayer is attention. Prayer is conversation. Prayer is communication.
Example?
If your desire is to honor and love your earthly dad so much that you want to not give in to the temptations that would upset your dad. Not offend him. Not hurt him. Not let him down. Then what you would need to do is continually stay in the presence of your dad. Keep talking to him. Take him with you when you drive and play and sing, and work and relax. Take your dad with you to the coffee shop, the school, the ball fields, the trips, the vacations and hotel stays and business meetings. Get it?

If you took your dad with you to every life thing you do and you knew he was always in your presence…wouldn’t it help you minute by minute to make good decision so as not to hurt your dad? If your dad was always with you and you “talked” with him throughout your day…how much easier would it be to NOT give into temptation and hurt your dad? Its more than just minute by minute being with you dad, you also take the time through out the day to have longer conversations with him where you spend time listening undistracted (Bible Reading) to him. You learn more about what he likes and dislikes. Those conversations are special and planned and put on the calendar. AND you take him with you everywhere you go. It would be harder and harder to fall into to temptation and offend him, wouldn’t it?
It would make all the difference.

Pray so that you will not give in to temptation.

Continually.